


Grub Fic AU Part 2

by RainbowPixieCat



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Eggpreg, Fainting, M/M, Medical Phobia, Morning Sickness, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 04:46:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9162646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowPixieCat/pseuds/RainbowPixieCat
Summary: Cronus tricks his matesprit into going to the doctor to find out what's wrong. Kankri is terrified of doctors and still has lots of pregnancy symptoms.





	

As it turned out, Cronus’ resolve wasn’t as strong as he thought. Kankri was sick on and off for about a week. He’d be completely fine for hours at a time and then suddenly and inexplicably get sick at random intervals.

Apart from that, Cronus had noticed a few other things that didn’t sit well with him. For instance, Kankri threw up one morning while trying to cook eggs and bacon for breakfast. The food all burnt and got stuck in the pan because he was too busy puking in the sink to tend to it properly. Another time, they were watching a movie and eating snacks and when a scene with blood appeared on the screen, Kankri vomited quite spectacularly in the snack bowl. Not to mention, in the mornings he’d get up and often make a mad dash for the bathroom.

Then there were the eating habits; crackers dipped in ice cream as though it were a cracker dip. Whole punnets of sliced strawberries, with a little salt and sugar sprinkled on them. Fish, prawns, tuna, shrimp, cod, roe, anything and everything seafood and especially crabs. Once he woke Cronus in the middle of the night and sent him on a trip to the local convenience store to pick up artificial crab meat because he apparently couldn’t live without it or he was going to smother Cronus with a pillow.

Cronus also noticed that he seemed to be going to the bathroom a lot more. It seemed like he had to go pee every ten or fifteen minutes, which was annoying during a movie, or when they tried going out anywhere, even for a simple walk around the neighbourhood.

Then there were the dizzy spells. Yesterday’s was so bad Kankri actually fainted in the breakfast aisle at the grocery store and knocked over a display of cereal boxes, scaring Cronus half to death and startling other shoppers.

And let’s not forget the fun world of mood swings. Kankri was a highly emotional being in the first place. Cronus knew that and accepted that about his lover. But now it was like everything had been ramped up to the max; people who got into arguments with him over the internet were taking their life in their hands.

The rest of it was just bizarre; bursting into tears at a commercial about wiggler toys, getting snippy and snappy over a misplaced kitchen sponge, or being depressed for apparently no reason when Cronus dropped a carton of eggs.

Also, he seemed to develop an urge to start rearranging all of the furniture in the house at the weirdest hours of the day or night. Needless to say, with all of the strange happenings, Cronus was beyond worried about his matesprit. He had never heard of any troll acting like this, ever.

They were two days into the new week when he finally put his foot down. He’d tried everything to persuade Kankri to go to the doctors; bribery, making deals, wheedling, telling Kankri how worried he was (aka guilt tripping), trying to make appointments for him, mild threats…nothing worked. Kankri always got out of it somehow, whether it was through begging and crying, pretending to forget his appointments, promising to make appointments then lying about actually going, long arguments about the benefits of natural health products and the lack of medical services for early trolls, or making threats (such as no sex for a month), if Cronus so much as dared to mention taking him to the doctor.

This time, Cronus had formed a plan. Enough was enough! He was going to get some medical attention for his beloved no matter what it took. Something was clearly not right, maybe even drastically wrong, and he was going to find out what it was.

The plan started that Wednesday morning, another lovely April spring day, with a pale blue sky and mild sunshine. Kankri didn’t have a very good night, or a nice start to the morning. He spent most of both times throwing up and by the time he showered, got dressed and brushed his hair, he seemed exhausted. He sat at the kitchen table, sipping at a peppermint tea and resting his head on one hand.

Cronus walked into the kitchen, freshly washed, dressed in jeans and a clean tee and smelling of men’s deodorant and hair product. His ear fins twitched a little when he spotted Kankri, who was similarly attired for the warm weather in a red tee and black pants. “Morning Kanks. How’re ya feeling? Any better than last night?” he asked sympathetically, leaning down to kiss Kankri’s cheek.

Kankri closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. “I’m up.” He said blandly, taking another sip of tea. “But I feel like I’ve had no sleep whatsoever” 

“Yeah, I figured as much. That’s vwhy I thought today vwe could do something nice and relaxing” he said, walking over to the toaster and putting in two pieces of bread.

Kankri didn’t bother to open his eyes as he rested for a minute. “Mm?” he made a sleepy questioning noise, curious as to what Cronus had in mind.

“A trip to the massage and beauty salon” Cronus clarified. “I thought you could use a little pampering, since this vweek’s been so rough on you” The toaster popped and Cronus snatched the bread out of the air, putting the toast on a plate and slathering butter and strawberry jam on it. He walked over to join Kankri at the table, taking the seat across from him and studying him carefully as he took a bite of toast.

“Cronus. I can feel you staring at me” Kankri said without opening his eyes.

Cronus chuckled. “Vwowv, you’re good” he munched on his toast some more “So? Vwhat d’you say? Do you vwanna go or?”

Kankri opened his eyes, yawned and looked up at Cronus blearily “Sure. Let’s go. I could use a pick me up. That’s really thoughtful of you” he offered Cronus a wan smile, pale and shaky from his unpleasant night. There were dark smudges under his eyes.

Cronus had been starting to feel pangs of guilt about his plan but taking a look at his matesprit reminded him of why he was doing this. It was all for a good reason. Besides, what he said wasn’t really a lie. He was going to take Kankri to the massage parlour afterwards. He figured they both would need the R & R once they got through what was coming. “Okay” he said, smiling innocently “I’ll meet you in the car in ten minutes”

***

Good fortune smiled on Cronus that day. Or at least, something did, because during the twenty minute drive into town, Kankri fell asleep in the first couple of minutes. The sea dweller was glad to see his matesprit getting some proper sleep. It had been a hard week for both of them and it looked like it had finally all caught up on Kankri. He was out like a light, snoring softly, even drooling a little. The stop start of the car didn’t wake him and the radio was off. There was just the smooth, quiet whisper of the air conditioning.

Cronus parked the Cadillac as gently as possible outside their destination and turned the engine off, getting out and sneaking around to the passenger side. He opened the door as quietly as he could and leaned over to unfasten Kankri’s seatbelt. Cronus leaned in close and gathered the heavily sleeping Kankri into his arms. Kankri stirred and mumbled, shifting in Cronus’ grasp. He froze, violet orbs watching Kankri’s face for any sign of wakefulness.

He let out a breath of relief when the warmblood merely snuggled in closer and resumed snoring his head off. Cronus backed in through the swinging door into the doctors’ office and tiptoed down the short hallway up to the front counter. He waited until he caught the woman’s attention before whispering as loudly as he dared. “Appointment for Kankri Vwantas at ten o’ clock”

The receptionist checked her appointment book and her eyes crinkled in a smile as she nodded and handed him some papers, then motioned for him to take a seat. Cronus had to say, he had a high regard for the staff at this clinic. Between him trying to make appointments for Kankri and Kankri cancelling them or not showing up, they’d been given quite the run around.

Cronus went and sat down on one of the padded waiting room chairs, being careful not to jostle Kankri too much. He snuggled him against his chest, the smaller troll still sleeping peacefully while Cronus filled out the paperwork and consent forms the receptionist had given him, sitting in a somewhat awkward position. The receptionist came and collected the forms, accepting them and entering the info into the computer.

Cronus shifted in the chair, trying to get more comfortable. Being jostled must have irritated Kankri, because the troll’s eyelashes fluttered and he blinked awake with a small sleepy sound. “Mn…” Kankri’s eyes wandered the surroundings, taking them in. He could smell some sort of clinical cleaning products in the air conditioned building. He slowly realised someone was holding him and looked up to see Cronus, recognising his familiar scent.

“Cronus? Wh-where am I?” he mumbled, confused and a little suspicious. “Is this the massage parlour?” Kankri struggled to sit up more and looked around more carefully, sniffing the air. “This…this is…” his voice held a note of dread as he began to realise where they were, claws gripping at Cronus’ shirt. “No…n-no!”

Cronus held him a little tighter as he began to struggle. “Kanny, calm dowvn” he said slowly and patiently, “This is for your owvn good. You’re really sick and vwe havwe to get you checked out”

“How could you? How could you!?” Kankri hissed, first upset and then angry. Red tinted tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he started to shake. “You know I have a medical phobia; you know that! You know it’s one of my biggest triggers. You, you tricked me. I trusted you!” He struggled to get free from Cronus’ arms, but the violet blood was a lot stronger than him. Kankri continued to squirm and kick, even jabbed Cronus in the side with his elbow to no avail. “Cronus. Put. Me. Down. NOW.” Kankri ordered, his tone going soft and dangerous, eyes flashing.

“Oof! Owv, that hurt” Cronus cringed at the jab to his side but held on determinedly, refusing to let go of his frightened and angry matesprit. “Kankri, you’re behavwing like an ovwergrowvn vwriggler!” he hissed at him, in order to get him to stop. “Calm down vwill ya?” 

“Let me go!” Kankri protested, fear clearly heard in his voice. He attempted kicking Cronus in the shin with the heel of his shoe. “I-I can’t! I can’t do this! I can’t!” He was starting to sound more and more panicked.

“Tch!” Cronus made a small sound of pain but continued to stubbornly hold on. People in the waiting room were giving them looks and he heard a couple of people make comments. “Look, I knowv you’re scared. I promise, I’m going to be here vwith you evwery step of the vway. You’re not going to do this alone. So just calm dowvn, okay? The doctors are only going to help you, babe” Cronus soothed, trying to calm Kankri down by reasoning with him. 

Kankri let out a growl from frustration and fear. He fought harder but it was no use. His strength was no match for a violet blood. He stopped struggling as Cronus spoke, getting an idea. 

Cronus waited. He waited some more. Kankri appeared to have given up. Cronus let out a sigh. Finally. “There, see. It’s gonna be okay” He relaxed his hold on the red eyed boy.

Big mistake. The minute Cronus let his guard down, Kankri leaped off his lap and ran for the nearest exit down the hallway. Cronus would have laughed if he wasn’t so worried.

“Kankri! Get back here!” He sprang to his feet and bolted after him, catching up with him in the hallway. Cronus’ hand shot out and grabbed Kankri by the wrist, yanking him to a stop just as Kankri’s outstretched fingers brushed the door handle.

He pulled him closer and tightened his grip on him, not enough to hurt but strong enough to be a warning. “Stop” he commanded, firmly but tenderly.

Kankri attempted to break free, struggling for all he was worth. He kept it up for a while but finally gave up. Suddenly red tears were pouring down his cheeks and he was crying in earnest “I can’t. I…I can’t….I can’t!” those were the only words he could get out in between hyperventilating breaths. “Please….I can’t!”

Cronus hugged Kankri to him, running a hand up and down his back as he cried and hiccupped “Shhh, shhhh. It’s gonna be all right, cherry. I knowv you don’t vwanna do this but vwe havwe to. I can’t just leavwe you sick” he explained. “Vwhat kind of a terrible matesprit vwould I be if I didn’t do something to help you? You got me vworried sick about you babe. I just vwant to help” he consoled, stroking tears away from Kankri’s wet cheeks.

Kankri clutched at Cronus and cried into his chest, staining yet another of his shirts. He was shaking and so anxious that he was feeling dizzy, panicked. His thoughts were scattered and he couldn’t breathe right. “I, I know” he sniffled, wiping tears on the sleeve of his tee. “I know. But….I can’t! I just can’t. I’m going to faint” the room was starting to swirl around him already.

Cronus sighed, this wasn’t going to work. Kankri was only getting more worked up the longer they stayed in the clinic, and he really didn’t want him to be more stressed. Time for plan B. He kept hold of Kankri’s wrist and reached his other hand into his back pocket, pulling something out. He didn’t show it to Kankri just yet, tilting his chin up to force him to meet his steady gaze. “Kanny. I hate to do this to ya, but I vwill tie you up if you keep carrying on. I knowv you can’t help it. But so help me, if I havwe to bind your vwrists and ankles to get ya some medical treatment, I vwill!” he said.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Kankri gasped angrily, still desperately trying to get away.

Cronus set his teeth in a spiky grin. “Try me” he challenged, raising his secret weapon into Kankri’s view. 

Kankri gasped at the thing Cronus was holding, immediately switching from panicked to scandalized. “Cronus!! You can’t have that here! P-put that away before someone sees!” he nearly shouted, sounding a bit hysterical. “That’s our, – that’s our personal, private item! It is NOT to be seen in public!”

Cronus smiled his shark toothed grin “Are ya gonna run avway if I let ya go?”

Kankri’s mouth opened and closed in a perfect imitation of a goldfish, eyes darting around the room as though looking for some way of escape. “I…I…I-”

“That’s vwhat I thought” Cronus pretended to inspect the length of cord that they used when they were doing bondage play. “Oh, look. I think there’s still a splash of genetic material on it”

“Ahhhh!” Kankri did shout that time, shoving Cronus’ hand down and trying to hide the cord. “Put that away! Put it away!” 

Cronus laughed wickedly. “Not until you promise to be a good boy” he sang.

Kankri blubbered, desperately glancing from the waiting room then back to the door then back at the waiting room again, his claws scrabbled at Cronus’s arm, trying to pry it away from his wrist and causing scratches in the process. Now he was backed into a corner with nowhere to run. His hyperventilating was getting worse and his words came out in broken sobs “Cro-nus…I c-an’t. C-can’t d-do this…plea-please. No. P-please!” He started to fall, knees buckling as his brain was overloaded. “No. Pl, no…!” 

“Geez. Anyone vwould think you vwere going to be tortured” Cronus muttered, catching his matesprit carefully and pocketing the rope again. He scooped Kankri up, who was by this point having a complete meltdown and carried his flailing and half fainting matesprit back into the waiting room, hoping the doctor would be ready soon.

Cronus gave the receptionist and waiting room an apologetic look and raised his voice to be heard above Kankri’s cries and shouts. “Sorry, he has a sevwere phobia of anything medical. This is the only vway I could get him to see the doctor”. 

Gods help him. He was scratched to heck and back from Kankri’s claws and his matesprit was causing a major scene, but he wasn’t going to give in.

The doctor would have been deaf not to hear what was going on in the waiting room. He came hurrying out of his office as the previous client left. He walked straight to the waiting room to greet his next patient, “Kankri?” he called out, looking at Cronus and Kankri with a sympathetic smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on in”

***

Awv yeah; about time! Cronus stood and carried Kankri through to the doctor’s room. The poor warmblood had quieted down and stopped struggling, mostly because he had lost consciousness. Cronus was sorry it had to get to that point, but he was also kind of thankful, since it made things a lot easier. He walked in and took a seat, cuddling Kankri on his lap and gently wiping tears and snot from his face with a tissue from the doctor’s desk.

“Ah, yeah, so…this is Kankri” he said, awkwardly, gesturing to the smaller troll in his arms. “Sorry about, y’knowv, out there…he’s been really sick and I kinda had trouble getting him in here, for obvwious reasons”

“I can see why” the doctor smiled, looking at the passed out troll kindly. “Phobias are quite terrible things. But I think you did the right thing bringing him in.” He looked down at a file that he had open on his desk, glancing at some of the information “So, you were telling us that he’s had several symptoms you’re concerned about over the last week and a half. Is that correct?”

Cronus nodded and filled the doctor in on everything that had been going on with his matesprit, although he had also told the clinic over the phone. About halfway through, Kankri started to stir.

His eyelids opened to reveal the yellow-orange sclera and cherry red pupils Cronus was familiar with. Kankri didn’t try to sit up more this time, just lay still and looked around. He looked up at his matesprit, concerned and questioning. “Cronus?”

“Heya chief. You doing alright there?” Cronus greeted gently, smoothing Kankri’s hair away from his forehead. “You passed out after throwving a fit in the vwaiting room. Vwe’re just in the doc’s office, talking to doctor Matt” he explained, calmly and gently, helping Kankri sit up a bit.

Kankri looked around the room nervously, not liking all the medical paraphernalia on display. The posters on the walls didn’t help much either; one was a picture of what cancerous growths looked like and the other two were diagrams of the insides of humans and trolls. He turned his head to hide against Cronus’ shoulder, clinging onto him and shutting his eyes. He could feel himself start shaking again but he didn’t try to escape.

Cronus rubbed his arm soothingly, holding him close. “Good boy. You’re doing vwell” He kissed the top of his head, ignoring the pin points of Kankri’s claws jabbing into him.

Dr Matt spoke up again “These symptoms that you were describing; they could indicate many different things as the underlying cause” he looked through the patient file again, checking notes before scooting his chair over and reaching across the desk for the pressure cuff attached to the blood pressure monitor. “All right, so we might begin with checking Kankri’s blood pressure” the doctor said kindly. He looked at Kankri, whose eyes had popped open at the mention of being looked at. “Hello Kankri, I’m doctor Matt. Can we take your blood pressure? Can you give me your arm?” he asked patiently.

Kankri didn’t reply, pulling himself in closer to Cronus and watching warily.

The doctor reached for Kankri’s arm. Kankri hissed at him threateningly, showing his sharp teeth.

Cronus jumped at the sudden hiss and laughed. “Kanny, oi, cut that out” he said, half amused, half firm. “Vwe don’t hiss at the doctor”

Kankri hissed again, more softly this time but allowed the doctor to take his arm and wrap the cuff around it. He whimpered softly as the cuff began to tighten and squeeze his arm, making a low mechanical whirring sound from the machine. He didn’t like feeling the thrum of his pulse in his own arm, nor the images of veins and blood it called to mind, but he gritted his teeth and got through it, growling softly the whole time.

“Good, good” Doctor Matt said, reading the blood pressure machine. The cuff deflated and he took it back off Kankri’s arm with a rip of Velcro. “Okay, now let’s listen to your breathing. Can you pull you shirt up for me?” he asked.

Kankri remained clinging fearfully to Cronus, making no attempt to follow instructions.

Cronus sighed, and pulled up the back of Kankri’s tee shirt for him, revealing his smooth grey skin. “Here doc. He’s all yours” 

Doctor Matt smiled. “Thank you. Now, this might be a little bit cold. I want you to take some deep breaths for me, can you do that?”

Kankri gave a tiny nod. He flinched as he felt cold steel touch his back but took several deep breaths in and out, feeling the stethoscope be moved around his back as the doctor listened to his lungs. Doctor Matt performed a few other tests, checking in Kankri’s eyes, ears and mouth, but seemed to find nothing out of the ordinary. He took his temperature, as well as felt under his arms and chin for swollen glands, but came up with nothing. Having ruled out a number of possibilities, he then went to other methods.

“Okay, so, we’ve ruled out a few things here today. But I have some more questions for you. Tell me, when you get sick, what happens? Does it just happen suddenly or is there any build-up? Or is something maybe triggering these episodes? Do you feel any anxiety symptoms at the time when you vomit? For instance, difficulty breathing, heart pounding faster, breaking out in a sweat or any kind of pain?” 

Kankri shook his head no to most of the questions. He seemed to have forgotten how to speak and was still shaking like a leaf. 

Cronus told the doctor about the incidents with the laundry soap and a couple of other smells that had caused Kankri trouble. He also mentioned other triggers, such as blood and gore on movies, raw meats, eggs, certain topics, and whatever else he could think of. 

The doctor continued to ask questions. Cronus answered most of them, going through the list of symptoms from the mood swings and dizzy spells to the cravings and needing to pee more. Doctor Matt gave them a few natural remedies they could try for Kankri’s nausea and instructed him to drink more water. Eventually he requested a couple more tests. One was a urine test to rule out any type of urinary tract infection, which could cause similar symptoms.

Kankri took the small container the doctor handed to him and shakily got off Cronus’ lap. He wobbled his way to the door.

Cronus got up and followed him.

Kankri stepped out into the hall, trying to hide the small container as much as possible. He was blushing, chewing on his lip nervously. “Cronus, I can do a simple urine test by myself” he muttered. “You don’t need to come with me”

Cronus took Kankri’s arm in his. “Yeah, I knowv. But I can tell you’re not comfortable vwith this and you’re still all vwonky. At least let me vwalk you there”

Kankri looked down, blushing darker but he leaned into Cronus. “Okay…” He got the sample easily enough and they returned to the doctor’s office, handing it to Dr Matt. The doctor talked to them a bit more, asking a few more questions, and then he had one last test. “I’d like you to do a blood test today. And then I think the examination is over. We’ll have to wait until we get the results to see what’s bothering you. However if symptoms worsen or you have any concerns, you can come back in and see me” He printed off a form for the nurses’ lab next door and handed it to Kankri with a smile. “And that’s all. Hope to see in you in a couple of days” he said affably. 

As soon as the words ‘blood test’ were out of the doctor’s mouth, Cronus knew there was going to be trouble.

Kankri was sat on his lap again, holding onto him tightly. He looked at the piece of paper that was clutched in his shaking hand and Cronus could feel him tense up. “No!”

Cronus groaned. Not this again. “Kankri, come on. It’s just a little prick and then it’s all ovwer. You can do it”

“I’m not doing it” Kankri insisted stubbornly, fear tainting his words. 

“Yes, you are. You’re sick and vwe need to find out vwhat’s vwrong. If the doctor says he vwants you to havwe a blood test then you’re havwing one” Cronus argued, wincing at Kankri’s claws.

“I can’t! I can’t! I just can’t” Kankri shook his head, gripping tighter onto Cronus. “Please, anything but that. Can’t I just, wait and do it another day? I’ll come back next week” he was sounding panicked again. 

“Vwhy vwould ya vwanna vwait and not do it nowv? Putting it off ain’t gonna make it any easier, Kan” Cronus told him.

Kankri’s eyes were welling with tears again “I really don’t want to” he said fearfully.

“I knowv, babe. Let’s just get it ovwer and done vwith, ‘kay? Then I promise, I’ll make it all up to you. Vw’ell do something nice to help you recovwer” He stood from the chair, letting Kankri slide off his lap. “Nowv come on” He held out his hand, planning to walk with him to the lab next door except that Kankri sank onto the floor like a sack of potatoes.

“Kanny” Cronus groaned… “Get up off the floor” Kankri was crying again, he noticed, and starting to hyperventilate. He crouched down and pulled him into a hug “It’ll be okay. I promise. I’m gonna be there vwith you, holding your hand the vwhole time. Really” he kissed his forehead. “Come on, take a deep breath for me. Like this” he demonstrated until Kankri copied. “Breathe…yeah. That’s it” With his matesprit being a little calmer, he lifted Kankri into his arms. If he wasn’t going to walk there then Cronus was going to carry him. He felt terrible for doing this to him, but it was tough love.

“Thanks for evwerything, Doc. Guess vwe’ll see you in a couple of days”

“No problems. Enjoy the rest of your day” Doctor Matt said amicably, waving to them as they left.

***

The blood test went as well as could be expected. Kankri got to lie down on a bed, close his eyes and wiggle his toes and talk to the nurse who kept asking him questions to keep his mind off what was happening. The nurses were well used to this kind of thing, apparently and the one they got was really nice. 

Cronus held Kankri’s hand the entire time and talked to him as well. The doctor had requested the lab test for a lot of different illnesses, some specific to trolls and some not, so it took about four vials. They were doing pretty well all things considered, until Kankri sat up too fast and passed out, and then vomited on the nurse when he woke up. But once that was done, it was thankfully, all over.

Cronus carried Kankri back out to the car and sat down with him for a while with the door open, just cuddling and talking to him softly until the shaking and crying subsided. He rubbed Kankri’s back and eventually, tried to pull him away from him “You vwanna go somevwhere nice, nowv? No?...”

Kankri clung back onto him like a limpet, not speaking, resting his head on Cronus’ shoulder.

Cronus sighed, letting him cling onto him as he kissed him on the cheek “No. Okay. Guess vwe’ll stay like this a little longer”. He smiled, nuzzling his matesprit and starting up a comforting purr. “That’s okay. I lovwe snuggling vwith you, anyvway”. 

They did actually manage to have a nice rest of the day after that. Despite his rather blood and tear stained t-shirt and the claw holes in it, Cronus took Kankri for ice cream (one of the things he was craving), and then a massage and pampering, and by the time they went to see a movie, Kankri was in a much better mood and more back to his usual self. Although they still didn’t know what was wrong with him, Cronus had more peace of mind knowing it was being looked into. Kankri was just glad it was all over.

***

They got a phone call three days later to come back to the clinic. Although this time it wasn’t so bad. Kankri still clung to Cronus’ arm and shook like a leaf and left claw holes in Cronus’ tee shirt, but the doctor didn’t seem to want to run any more tests which was a huge relief. In fact, he seemed to have some very important news.

“Now, I don’t want to alarm you” Dr Matt started off, opening Kankri’s file in front of him.

Kankri clutched tighter on to Cronus, not liking the doctor’s use of words. Once again, he was sitting on his matesprit’s lap. 

“We have the test results back in from the lab. I suspected the cause of your problem the last time you were in here but I disregarded it due to common knowledge that for trolls, this is not possible” he explained, putting extra emphasis on the last four words. Cronus could feel the fear knotting inside his belly. Was it some kind of rare disease?

Doctor Matt opened a program on his computer, which showed what was tested for and the results of each test, both in list form and in a graph with coloured lines.

“So, here, we can see, the hormone levels in Kankri’s blood, and from the urine sample” he started, pointing out things to them with a pointer and explaining what several hormones were and what they did in the body. “So from these, what we can see from these results, is a possible pregnancy. It matches exactly with the types of symptoms your partner has been experiencing”

“Vwait, vwhat?!” Cronus asked, alarmed. He felt Kankri flinch in his arms. That was not what he’d been expecting to hear. “No vway. You mean like, that thing vwhere humans havwe tiny human vwigglers?” That didn’t make any sense. Cronus knew what pregnancy meant thanks to his research on humans and their culture, but not exactly how it worked. “That’s impossible. Vwe’re trolls. Vwe use the mother grub and buckets to reproduce. That’s the vway it’s alvways been. You havwe to be reading the data vwrong or something”

“H-human wigglers? Wh-what do you mean?” Kankri asked anxiously, looking to Cronus and then the doctor. “How is that possible?”

Dr Matt cleared his throat. “I have checked over the data with several other doctors, including a jade blood troll who used to attend the brooding chambers of the mother grub. She also works here as one of my colleagues. She and I have confirmed that this is exactly what it appears to be, though we do not know how” He looked at them both with a slight smile, “Pregnancy, the word itself, means not that you would be having human babies, or, wigglers if you like, but that you would be having what trolls start out as, which would be, if this is like your mother grub, a grub of some sort. The young is carried inside the body, typically in a special sac called the womb, but in some species this differs, until they are ready to be born, which then means the mother, or in this case, the carrier, would be the one to give birth” he explained.

Kankri was looking more frightened by the minute. “So, so you’re saying I have some kind of grub living in my insides?” he stammered, one hand going to his stomach. “And that is what’s making me sick?”

Dr Matt chuckled. “No no, not exactly. I mean, yes, it does live and grow inside you, but not just in your intestines or with all your other organs like a parasite. In humans, it’s a special area” he leaned forward, using a pen to indicate Kankri’s pelvic region, tracing the outline of a vague triangle. “…Somewhere here, where all the reproductive organs are stored”. 

Cronus and Kankri looked at the area indicated. “Vwell, that is vwhere vwe havwe our reproductivwe organs” Cronus enunciated slowly. “But it still doesn’t make any sense. Howv vwould it evwen get in there? Vwe use buckets and –uh…” Cronus trailed off abruptly, face flushing a bright violet. His earfins twitched in embarrassment as he realised what the cause was. He and Kankri and a growing number of other trolls had ditched buckets after coming to the new world, seeing as donation of genetic material was no longer compulsory. But they’d found that being intimate without them didn’t bring a curse down on their heads, and didn’t really seem to matter. It even felt really good. It was still looked upon as being something extremely kinky and fetishy by the majority of the population but, especially amongst the younger trolls, it was starting to grow in popularity to just release inside your partner.

“S-sooo….if this is because my genetic material somehowv got…I mean, vwe knowv howv, but…damn it!” Cronus waved his hand, flustered. “Anyvway! If that’s the case then howv come I’m not pregnant? Vwe did it both vways; his in mine and mine in his. Shouldn’t vwe both be carrying grubs?” 

Dr Matt sighed and scratched his head “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we still don’t know. We know that sharing genetic material, as you call it, does have something to do with it but as for the rest, it’s still a mystery. Currently, there’s not a lot of research on the matter, as it has only now been brought to our attention. Myself and other doctors who work with both trolls and humans are looking into researching it, to provide better answers” He smiled at them reassuringly. “For now, I’m going to give you a referral to get an ultrasound, so we can see what’s going on in there. It’s still very early in the pregnancy so you probably won’t be able to see much of anything, but the doctors will be able to see if there’s activity happening. For a while now, there have been questions over parts of Trollian reproductive anatomy that we weren’t sure what they were for or what their function was in the body, if at all. You two might be some of the first to start providing us with some answers” He smiled widely at them.

“Th-that’s all well a-and good. F-fine, but. I want to know what an ultrasound is? D-does it hurt?” Kankri stammered, clinging onto Cronus for dear life. 

Doctor Matt chuckled and shook his head. “I should think not. You simply go in and lie down on the exam bed and they use a special instrument to get a picture of your insides” he comforted. “It is harmless and relatively pain free”.

Dr Matt’s printer spat out a piece of paper and he handed the referral to Cronus. “Just give this to the receptionist at the front counter and she’ll fax it through to the ultrasound clinic. You can ring the number on the form to make an appointment anytime. Other than that, any more questions?” he asked, slapping his hands on his knees and looking at them expectantly.

Kankri remained silent but shook his head, looking somewhat dazed. It was a lot of information to take in in one sitting. 

“Ah…no…that’s….that’ll do for today. Thanks” Cronus answered, just as astounded, standing up from the chair and supporting Kankri as he slid off his lap and stood up shakily. “Think vwe’ll just go home and relax for a vwhile, and make that appointment” he said, mustering a shaky smile. “C’mon Kanny. Let’s go” he took Kankri’s arm and helped him walk back out to reception, where they got the referral scanned through to an ultrasound clinic in another part of town. Then they made their way out of the medical clinic to the car.

“Cronus, do you really think you should be driving?” Kankri asked, once they were seated in the Cadillac. He was still a bit shaky from the clinic experience but he was starting to recover now that they were outside and heading away from it. One hand was still over his belly, almost protective. “This news was a big shock to both of us. Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll be fine” Cronus answered, not completely sure of his own words. “Vwe just gotta go straight home, right? Piece a cake” He started up the ignition, checked for oncoming traffic and pulled out onto the road.

***

The drive home was quite eventful. Although they made it in one piece, Cronus accidentally ran two red lights, nearly ran into someone in front, forgot to indicate once changing lanes, almost drove over a pedestrian and failed to check for oncoming traffic twice.

By the time they parked in the driveway and got out, both of them were a shaky mess. They headed for the couch and turned on the TV, but they weren’t really paying attention to it. Both of them were still trying to process what they found out at the clinic.

Cronus turned to look at Kankri, who was flopped on the couch beside him with a shell shocked expression.

“Holy shit, Kan” he ran a hand back through his hair, several strands coming loose. “Vwe’re going to havwe a grub”

Kankri was still too flabbergasted to bother tagging bad language as a trigger warning.


End file.
